Off the mark

Nottingham Forest’s Jamie Ward says it ‘means a lot’ to have scored his first goal for the club.

Ward slid in at the back post to convert Oliver Burke’s cross-cum-shot – a goal which was enough to send The Reds into the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup.

And the former Derby man admits he’s relieved to have begun his tally this side of the A52.

Ward said: “Scoring a goal always means a lot, especially when it’s the first for your new club.

“It’s definitely a relief, especially considering where I’ve come from. There was always a bit more pressure on me to impress the fans because of things in the past but it was just great to get off the mark and hopefully I can now go on a roll.

“It wasn’t the prettiest but they all count. I should have had many more – that shouldn’t have been the first one of the season but now I’ll hopefully go and build on that.”

Ward was supporting Dexter Blackstock up front and says his striker’s instincts kicked in when Burke picked the ball up in space.

He said: “I just thought ‘gamble’. It was two-v-one and if he got the ball behind the defender I knew I just had to run into the goal.

“He told me it was a shot but when you play up front you’ve got to keep gambling and that’s what I did – it’s what I’m paid to do.”